Quotes from judge in Sen. Mike Duffy’s acquittal in Senate expense scandal

OTTAWA – Quotes from Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt in his decision that saw Sen. Mike Duffy cleared on all 31 counts he faced in the long-running Senate expense scandal.

“Was Nigel Wright actually ordering senior members of the Senate around as if they were mere pawns on a chess board? Were those same senior members of the Senate meekly acquiescing to Mr. Wright’s orders? Were those same senior members of the Senate robotically marching to recite their scripted lines?”

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“Did Nigel Wright really direct the senator to approach a senior member of an accounting firm that was conducting an independent audit of the Senate to get a peek at the report or part of the report prior to its release to appropriate Senate authorities or to influence that report in any way? Does the reading of these emails give the impression that Sen. Duffy was going to do as he was told or face the consequences?”

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“The precision and planning of this exercise would make any military commander cry. In the context of a democratic society, the plotting revealed in the emails can only be described as unacceptable.”

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“The circumstances of this case are a far cry from the usual fraud/breach of trust playbook.” — on Duffy’s arrangements to pay for services through his friend Gerald Donohue.

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“I was not presented with evidence suggesting expensive wining and dining, lavish living or pricey gambling junkets, or secret financial hideaways. Now, fraud and breach of trust can occur outside the aforementioned examples; however, the thrust of all of Sen. Duffy’s perceived misadventures was focused on Senate business.”

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“This case provided me with ample opportunity to assess the credibility of Sen. Duffy. He was on the stand for many hours; at the end of the day I find that Sen. Duffy is an overall credible witness.”

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“Sen. Duffy believed reasonably … that all of the travel encompassed by counts three to 20 were properly expensed as parliamentary functions.”

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“(Duffy) honestly and reasonably believed and relied on the advice he received regarding his appointment and his primary residence, and he acted upon it.”

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“After reviewing the submissions and the facts in this case, I am not satisfied that the Crown has proven the guilt of Sen. Duffy in relation to alleged fraudulent residency declarations, and their expense claims in connection thereto, beyond a reasonable a doubt.”

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